Learnings to be had from fall-out of Storm Éowyn in Mayo

MAYO County Council received more than 1,400 calls, with 'unprecedented' incidents and damage caused by Storm Éowyn.

A total of 13,000 incidents of trees, branches or debris had to be cleared by the local authority.

The fire service responded to three calls during the red weather alert and safely concluded each of them.

Outdoor crews were immediately mobilised once the warning lifted and as well as clearing roads, worked with Uisce Éireann and the ESB in their efforts to restore services.

Chief executive Kevin Kelly, in a report for the monthly council meeting, said the extent of the damage was much greater than had been expected.

“The fact that so much of the country lost power (768,000 customers at the peak) and this in turn impacted on communications infrastructure and water services infrastructure was a significant learning,” he commented.

“The scale of the damage also made attaining information from the utilities that could be useful to the public extremely challenging.”

Councillors have been critical of communication received from management and also service providers such as the ESB and Eir.

A lengthy report setting out the council's response is available on the local authority's website, including how with communications infrastructure compromised, arrangements were put in place for dedicated contact numbers in each municipal district, along with promotion across social media and on MidWest Radio.

Mr. Kelly said learnings, locally and nationally, will be factored into the approach to future events and 'it is expected that the resilience of our infrastructure will be a significant consideration in that process'.

Councillor Peter Flynn told management there had been a 'complete breakdown' in communication, with councillors left in the dark despite being the first people members of the public contacted.

On the Sunday after the storm it was decided to call an emergency meeting for Monday. Surely that should have been called for Sunday, he said.

There needs to be a team in situ with proper responses and reports back the councillors and Tds.

A motion from Councillor Damien Ryan called for the creation of a county co-ordination forum, led by the council but including bodies such as the ESB, Eir, Irish Water, the Hse, gardaí and OPW.

They especially had to look after vulnerable people and needed go to people to prioritise emergency situations.

There were renewed calls for felling licences for trees to be abolished and for an amnesty on the March cutting deadline.

If we sit back and do nothing the results will be the same with future storms, noted Councillor Alma Gallagher.